NINTENDO CO., LTD. is a Japanese multinational consumer electronics
and video game company headquartered in
KyotoKyoto .
NintendoNintendo is one of the
world's largest video game companies by market capitalization,
creating some of the best-known and top-selling video game franchises,
such as _
MarioMario _, _
The Legend of Zelda _, and _
Pokémon _. Founded on
23 September 1889 by
Fusajiro Yamauchi , it originally produced
handmade hanafuda playing cards . By 1963, the company had tried
several small niche businesses, such as cab services and love hotels .
Abandoning previous ventures in favor of toys in the 1960s, Nintendo
then developed into a video game company in the 1970s, ultimately
becoming one of the most influential in the industry and Japan's third
most-valuable company with a market value of over $85 billion. From
1992 until 2016,
NintendoNintendo was also the majority shareholder of Major
League Baseball 's
Seattle Mariners .

* 3.4.1 Entertainment Planning "> Former headquarters plate, from
when
NintendoNintendo was solely a playing card company

NintendoNintendo was founded as a card company by
Fusajiro Yamauchi on
September 23, 1889. Based in
KyotoKyoto , the business produced and
marketed a playing card game called "_
Hanafuda _". The handmade cards
soon became popular, and Yamauchi hired assistants to mass-produce
cards to satisfy demand. In 1949, the company adopted the name
NintendoNintendo Karuta Co., Ltd. (Japanese : 任天堂骨牌株式会社,
Hepburn : _Nintendō karuta kabushikigaisha_), doing business as The
NintendoNintendo Playing Card Co. outside Japan.
NintendoNintendo continues to
manufacture playing cards in
JapanJapan and organizes its own contract
bridge tournament called the "
NintendoNintendo Cup". The word _Nintendo_ can
be translated as "leave luck to heaven", or alternatively as "the
temple of free hanafuda".

1956–1974: NEW VENTURES

In 1956,
Hiroshi Yamauchi , grandson of Fusajiro Yamauchi, visited
the U.S. to talk with the
United States Playing Card Company , the
dominant playing card manufacturer there. He found that the biggest
playing card company in the world was using only a small office.
Yamauchi's realization that the playing card business had limited
potential was a turning point. He then acquired the license to use
Disney characters on playing cards to drive sales.

In 1963, Yamauchi renamed
NintendoNintendo Playing Card Co. Ltd. to Nintendo
Co., Ltd. The company then began to experiment in other areas of
business using newly injected capital during the period of time
between 1963 and 1968.
NintendoNintendo set up a taxi company called _Daiya_.
This business was initially successful. However,
NintendoNintendo was forced
to sell it because problems with the labour unions were making it too
expensive to run the service. It also set up a love hotel chain, a TV
network, a food company (selling instant rice ) and several other
ventures. All of these ventures eventually failed, and after the 1964
TokyoTokyo Olympics , playing card sales dropped, and Nintendo's stock
price plummeted to its lowest recorded level of ¥ 60.

In 1966,
NintendoNintendo moved into the Japanese toy industry with the Ultra
Hand , an extendable arm developed by its maintenance engineer Gunpei
Yokoi in his free time. Yokoi was moved from maintenance to the new
"
NintendoNintendo Games" department as a product developer.
NintendoNintendo continued
to produce popular toys, including the
Ultra Machine ,
Love Tester and
the _Kousenjuu_ series of light gun games. Despite some successful
products,
NintendoNintendo struggled to meet the fast development and
manufacturing turnaround required in the toy market, and fell behind
the well-established companies such as
BandaiBandai and
Tomy .

In 1973, its focus shifted to family entertainment venues with the
Laser Clay Shooting System , using the same light gun technology used
in Nintendo's _Kousenjuu_ series of toys, and set up in abandoned
bowling alleys. Following some success,
NintendoNintendo developed several
more light gun machines (such as the light gun shooter game _Wild
Gunman _) for the emerging arcade scene. While the Laser Clay Shooting
System ranges had to be shut down following excessive costs, Nintendo
had found a new market.

1974–1978: EARLY ELECTRONIC ERA

Nintendo's first venture into the video gaming industry was securing
rights to distribute the
Magnavox Odyssey video game console in Japan
in 1974.
NintendoNintendo began to produce its own hardware in 1977, with the
Color TV-GameColor TV-Game home video game consoles. Four versions of these
consoles were produced, each including variations of a single game
(for example, Color TV Game 6 featured six versions of _Light
Tennis_).

A student product developer named
Shigeru MiyamotoShigeru Miyamoto was hired by
NintendoNintendo at this time. He worked for Yokoi, and one of his first
tasks was to design the casing for several of the Color TV-Game
consoles. Miyamoto went on to create, direct and produce some of
Nintendo's most famous video games and become one of the most
recognizable figures in the video game industry.

In 1975,
NintendoNintendo moved into the video arcade game industry with _EVR
Race _, designed by their first game designer,
Genyo Takeda , and
several more titles followed.
NintendoNintendo had some small success with
this venture, but the release of _
Donkey Kong _ in 1981, designed by
Miyamoto, changed Nintendo's fortunes dramatically. The success of the
game and many licensing opportunities (such as ports on the Atari 2600
,
Intellivision and
ColecoVision ) gave
NintendoNintendo a huge boost in
profit and in addition, the game also introduced an early iteration of
MarioMario , then known in
JapanJapan as Jumpman, the eventual company mascot .

In 1979,
Gunpei Yokoi conceived the idea of a handheld video game ,
while observing a fellow bullet train commuter who passed the time by
interacting idly with a portable LCD calculator, which gave birth to
_
Game & Watch _. In 1980,
NintendoNintendo launched _Game & Watch_—a
handheld video game series developed by Yokoi. These systems do not
contain interchangeable cartridges and thus the hardware was tied to
the game. The first
Game & Watch game released, titled _Ball_, was
distributed worldwide. The modern "cross"
D-pad design was developed
in 1982, by Yokoi for a _
Donkey Kong _ version. Proven to be popular,
the design was patented by Nintendo. It later earned a Technology &
Engineering Emmy Award .

In 1983,
NintendoNintendo launched the Family Computer (colloquialized as
"Famicom") home video game console in Japan, alongside ports of its
most popular arcade titles. In 1985, a cosmetically reworked version
of the system known outside
JapanJapan as the
NintendoNintendo Entertainment System
or NES, launched in North America. The practice of bundling the system
along with select games helped to make _Super
MarioMario Bros. _ one of the
best-selling video games in history .

In 1988,
Gunpei Yokoi and his team at
NintendoNintendo R&D1 conceived the new
Game Boy handheld system, with the purpose of merging the two very
successful ideas of the Game ">
NintendoNintendo deemed 1994 the "Year of the
Cartridge". To further their support for cartridges, Nintendo
announced that Project Reality, which had now been renamed the Ultra
64, would not use a CD format as expected, but would rather use
cartridges as its primary media format.
NintendoNintendo IRD general manager
Genyo Takeda was impressed by video game development company Rare 's
progress with real-time 3D graphics technology, using state of the art
Silicon Graphics workstations. As a result,
NintendoNintendo bought a 25%
stake in the company, eventually expanding to 49%, and offered their
catalogue of characters to create a CGI game around, making Rare
Nintendo's first western-based second-party developer . Their first
game as partners with
NintendoNintendo was _
Donkey Kong CountryDonkey Kong Country _. The game
was a critical success and sold over eight million copies worldwide,
making it the second best-selling game in the S
NESNES library . In
September 1994, Nintendo, along with six other video game giants
including Sega,
Electronic Arts , Atari, Acclaim , Philips, and 3DO
approached the
United States Senate and demanded a ratings system for
video games to be enforced, which prompted the decision to create the
Entertainment Software Rating Board .

Aiming to produce an affordable virtual reality console, Nintendo
released the
Virtual Boy in 1995, designed by Gunpei Yokoi. The
console consists of a head-mounted semi-portable system with one
red-colored screen for each of the user's eyes, featuring stereoscopic
graphics . Games are viewed through a binocular eyepiece and
controlled using an affixed gamepad. Critics were generally
disappointed with the quality of the games and the red-colored
graphics, and complained of gameplay-induced headaches. The system
sold poorly and was quietly discontinued. Amid the system's failure,
Yokoi retired from Nintendo. During the same year,
NintendoNintendo launched
the
SatellaviewSatellaview in Japan, a peripheral for the Super Famicom. The
accessory allowed users to play video games via broadcast for a set
period of time. Various games were made exclusively for the platform,
as well as various remakes .

In 1996,
NintendoNintendo released the Ultra 64 as the
Nintendo 64 in Japan
and North America. The console was later released in
EuropeEurope and
AustraliaAustralia in 1997. The
Nintendo 64 continued what had become a
NintendoNintendo tradition of hardware design which is focused less on high
performance specifications than on design innovations intended to
inspire game development. With its market shares slipping to the Sega
Saturn and partner-turned-rival
SonySonyPlayStationPlayStation , Nintendo
revitalized its brand by launching a $185 million marketing campaign
centered around the "Play it Loud" slogan. During the same year,
NintendoNintendo also released the
Game Boy Pocket in Japan, a smaller version
of the
Game Boy that generated more sales for the platform. On 4
October 1997, famed
NintendoNintendo developer
Gunpei Yokoi died in a car
crash. In 1997,
NintendoNintendo released the
SNS-101 (called Super Famicom
Jr. in Japan), a smaller redesigned version of the Super Nintendo
Entertainment System .

In 1998, the successor to the Game Boy, the
Game Boy Color, was
released. The system had improved technical specifications allowing it
to run games made specifically for the system as well as games
released for the Game Boy, albeit with added color. The Game Boy
Camera and Printer were also released as accessories. In October 1998,
Retro Studios was founded as an alliance between
NintendoNintendo and former
Iguana Entertainment founder
Jeff Spangenberg .
NintendoNintendo saw an
opportunity for the new studio to create games for the upcoming
GameCubeGameCube targeting an older demographic, in the same vein as Iguana
Entertainment's successful _
Turok _ series for the
NintendoNintendo 64.

In 2001, just three years later,
NintendoNintendo introduced the redesigned
Game Boy Advance. The same year,
NintendoNintendo also released the GameCube
to lukewarm sales, and it ultimately failed to regain the market share
lost by the
NintendoNintendo 64. When Yamauchi, the company's president since
1949, retired on 24 May 2002,
Satoru IwataSatoru Iwata succeeded as Nintendo's
fourth president, becoming the first
NintendoNintendo president who was
unrelated to the Yamauchi family through blood or marriage since its
founding in 1889.

In 2003,
NintendoNintendo released the
Game Boy Advance SP , a redesign of
the
Game Boy Advance that featured a clamshell design that would later
be used in Nintendo's DS and 3DS handheld video game systems.

In 2004,
NintendoNintendo released the
Nintendo DS , its fourth major
handheld system. The DS is a dual screened handheld featuring touch
screen capabilities, which respond to either a stylus or the touch of
a finger. Former
NintendoNintendo president and now chairman Hiroshi Yamauchi
was translated by GameScience as explaining, "If we can increase the
scope of the industry, we can re-energise the global market and lift
JapanJapan out of depression – that is Nintendo's mission." Regarding
lukewarm
GameCubeGameCube sales which had yielded the company's first reported
operating loss in over 100 years, Yamauchi continued: "The DS
represents a critical moment for Nintendo's success over the next two
years. If it succeeds, we rise to the heavens, if it fails, we sink
into hell." Thanks to titles such as
Nintendogs and
MarioMario Kart DS ,
the DS became a success. In 2005,
NintendoNintendo released the
Game Boy Micro
in North America, a redesign of the
Game Boy Advance. The last system
in the
Game Boy line , it was also the smallest Game Boy, and the
least successful. In the middle of 2005,
NintendoNintendo opened the Nintendo
World Store in
New York CityNew York City , which would sell
NintendoNintendo games,
present a museum of
NintendoNintendo history, and host public parties such as
for product launches. The store was renovated and renamed as Nintendo
New York in 2016. The
WiiWii Remote , along with the
WiiWii , was said
to be revolutionary because of its motion detection capabilities

In the first half of 2006,
NintendoNintendo released the
Nintendo DS Lite , a
version of the original
Nintendo DS with lighter weight, brighter
screen, and better battery life. In addition to this streamlined
design, its prolific subset of casual games appealed to the masses,
such as the _
Brain Age _ series. Meanwhile, _New Super
MarioMario Bros. _
provided a substantial addition to the _Mario_ series when it was
launched to the top of sales charts. The successful direction of the
Nintendo DS had a big influence on Nintendo's next home console
(including the common
Nintendo Wi-Fi ConnectionNintendo Wi-Fi Connection ), which had been
codenamed "Revolution" and was now renamed to "
WiiWii ". In August 2006,
NintendoNintendo published ES, a now-dormant, open source research operating
system project designed around web application integration but for no
specific purpose.

In the latter half of 2006,
NintendoNintendo released the
WiiWii as the
backward-compatible successor to the GameCube. Based upon intricate
WiiWii Remote motion controls and a balance board , the
WiiWii inspired
several new game franchises, some targeted at entirely new market
segments of casual and fitness gaming. At more than 100 million units,
the
WiiWii is the best selling console of the seventh generation,
regaining the market share lost during the tenures of the
NintendoNintendo 64
and the GameCube.

During the holiday season of 2008,
NintendoNintendo followed up the success
of the DS with the release of the
Nintendo DSi in Japan. The system
features a more powerful
CPUCPU and more RAM, two cameras, one facing
towards the player and one facing outwards, and had an online
distribution store called
DSiWare . The DSi was later released
worldwide during 2009. In the latter half of 2009,
NintendoNintendo released
the
Nintendo DSi XL in Japan, a larger version of the DSi. This
updated system was later released worldwide in 2010.

In 2011,
NintendoNintendo released the
Nintendo 3DS , based upon a
glasses-free 3D display. In February 2012,
NintendoNintendo acquired Mobiclip
, a
FranceFrance -based research and development company specialized in
highly optimized software technologies such as video compression. The
company's name was later changed to
NintendoNintendo European Research
white-space:nowrap;"> Intending to broaden the 3DS market, Nintendo
released 2013's cost-reduced
Nintendo 2DS . The 2DS is compatible with
but lacks the 3DS's more expensive but cosmetic autostereoscopic 3D
feature.
NintendoNintendo also released the
WiiWii Mini , a cheaper and
non-networked redesign of the Wii.

On 25 September 2013,
NintendoNintendo announced it had purchased a 28% stake
in a
PanasonicPanasonic spin-off company called PUX Corporation. The company
specializes in face and voice recognition technology, with which
NintendoNintendo intends to improve the usability of future game systems.
NintendoNintendo has also worked with this company in the past to create
character recognition software for a
Nintendo DS touchscreen. After
announcing a 30% dive in profits for the April to December 2013
period, president
Satoru IwataSatoru Iwata announced he would take a 50% pay-cut,
with other executives seeing reductions by 20%–30%.

In January 2015,
NintendoNintendo announced its exit from the Brazilian
market after four years of distributing products in the country.
NintendoNintendo cited high import duties and lack of local manufacturing
operation as reasons for leaving.
NintendoNintendo continues its partnership
with Juegos de Video Latinoamérica to distribute products to the rest
of
Latin AmericaLatin America .

On 11 July 2015, Iwata died from a bile duct tumor at the age of 55.
Following his death, representative directors
Genyo Takeda and Shigeru
Miyamoto jointly led the company on an interim basis until the
appointment of
Tatsumi Kimishima as Iwata's successor on 16 September
2015. In addition to Kimishima's appointment, the company's
management organization was also restructured—Miyamoto was named
"Creative Fellow" and Takeda was named "Technology Fellow".

On 17 March 2015,
NintendoNintendo announced a partnership with Japanese
mobile developer
DeNA to produce games for smart devices . The first
of these, _
Miitomo _, was released in March 2016.

On the same day,
NintendoNintendo announced a new "dedicated games platform
with a brand new concept" with the codename "NX" that would be further
revealed in 2016.
Reggie Fils-Aimé , president of
NintendoNintendo of
America, referred to NX as "our next home console" in a June 2015
interview with _
The Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street Journal _. In a later 16 October 2015
article, _The Wall Street Journal_ relayed speculation from unnamed
inside sources that, although unknown, the NX was intended to feature
"industry leading" hardware specifications and be usable as both a
home and portable console. It was also reported that
NintendoNintendo had
begun distributing software development kits (SDKs) for NX to
third-party developers, with the unnamed source further speculating
that these moves " the company is on track to introduce as early as
." At an investor's meeting on 27 April 2016,
NintendoNintendo announced that
the NX would be released worldwide in March 2017. In an interview
with
Asahi ShimbunAsahi Shimbun in May 2016, Kimishima stated that the NX was a new
concept that would not succeed the 3DS or
WiiWii U product lines. At a
shareholders' meeting following E3 2016,
Shigeru MiyamotoShigeru Miyamoto stated that
the company chose not to present the NX during the conference due to
concerns that competitors could copy from it if they revealed it too
soon. The same day, Kimishima also revealed during a Q&A session with
investors that they were also researching virtual reality .

In May 2015, Universal Parks "> The
NintendoNintendo Entertainment System
, Nintendo's first major success in the home console market

The NINTENDO ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM (abbreviated as NES) is an 8-bit
video game console, which released in North America in 1985, and in
EuropeEurope throughout 1986 and 1987. The console was initially released in
JapanJapan as the FAMILY COMPUTER (abbreviated as FAMICOM) in 1983. The
best-selling gaming console of its time, e the
NESNES helped revitalize
the US video game industry following the video game crash of 1983 .
With the NES,
NintendoNintendo introduced a now-standard business model of
licensing third-party developers , authorizing them to produce and
distribute titles for Nintendo's platform. The
NESNES was bundled with
_Super
MarioMario Bros. _, one of the best-selling video games of all time
, and received ports of Nintendo's most popular arcade titles.

NintendoNintendo also produced a limited run of the
NESNES Classic Edition in
2016. The
NESNES Classic System was a dedicated console modeled after an
NESNES with 30 built-in classic first- and third-party games from the NES
library. By the end of its production in April 2017,
NintendoNintendo shipped
2.3 million units.

The SUPER NINTENDO ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM (abbreviated as the SUPER NES
or SNES) is a
16-bit video game console, which was released in North
America in 1991, and in
EuropeEurope in 1992. The console was initially
released in
JapanJapan in 1990 as the SUPER FAMICOM, officially adopting
the colloquially abbreviated name of its predecessor. The console
introduced advanced graphics and sound capabilities compared with
other consoles at the time. Soon, the development of a variety of
enhancement chips which were integrated onto each new game cartridge's
circuit boards, progressed the SNES's competitive edge. While even
crude three-dimensional graphics had previously rarely been seen on
home consoles, the Super NES's enhancement chips suddenly enabled a
new caliber of games containing increasingly sophisticated faux 3D
effects as seen in 1991's _
Pilotwings _ and 1992's _Super
MarioMario Kart
_.
Argonaut Games developed the
Super FX chip in order to replicate 3D
graphics from their earlier
Atari ST and
AmigaAmiga _
Starglider _ series on
the Super
NESNES (more specifically, _
Starglider 2 _), starting with
_
Star Fox _ in 1993. The S
NESNES is the best-selling console of the
16-bit era although having experienced a relatively late start and
fierce competition from
SegaSega 's Mega Drive/Genesis console.

NintendoNintendo also plans to release a limited run of the Super
NESNES Classic
Edition in September 2017 through the end of the year. Like the NES
Classic Edition, the Super
NESNES Classic Edition is a dedicated console
with 21 built-in games from its library, including the
never-before-released _
Starfox 2 _.

Main article:
Nintendo 64 The
Nintendo 64 , named for its
64-bit graphics, was Nintendo's first home console to feature 3D
computer graphics

The NINTENDO 64 was released in 1996, featuring 3D polygon model
rendering capabilities and built-in multiplayer for up to four
players. The system's controller introduced the analog stick and later
introduced the
Rumble Pak , an accessory for the controller that
produces force feedback with compatible games. Both are the first such
features to have come to market for home console gaming and eventually
became the _de facto_ industry standard . Announced in 1995, prior to
the console's 1996 launch, the
64DD ("DD" standing for "Disk Drive")
was designed to enable the development of new genre of video games by
way of 64 MB writable magnetic disks, video editing, and Internet
connectivity. Eventually released only in
JapanJapan in 1999, the 64DD
peripheral's commercial failure there resulted in only nine games
being released and precluded further worldwide release.

The GAMECUBE (officially called NINTENDO GAMECUBE, abbreviated NGC in
JapanJapan and GCN in North America) was released in 2001, in
JapanJapan and
North America, and in 2002 worldwide. The sixth-generation console is
the successor to the
Nintendo 64 and competed with Sony's PlayStation
2 , Microsoft's Xbox , and Sega's
DreamcastDreamcast . The
GameCubeGameCube is the
first
NintendoNintendo console to use optical discs as its primary storage
medium. The discs are similar to the mini
DVDDVD format, but the system
was not designed to play standard DVDs or audio CDs . Nintendo
introduced a variety of connectivity options for the GameCube. The
GameCube's game library has sparse support for Internet gaming , a
feature that requires the use of the aftermarket
NintendoNintendo GameCube
Broadband Adapter and Modem Adapter . The
GameCubeGameCube supports
connectivity to the
Game Boy Advance , allowing players to access
exclusive in-game features using the handheld as a second screen and
controller.

Wii

Main article:
WiiWii The
WiiWii , Nintendo's best selling home video
game console and first to use motion controls

The WII was released during the holiday season of 2006 worldwide. The
system features the
WiiWii Remote controller , which can be used as a
handheld pointing device and which detects movement in three
dimensions . Another notable feature of the console is
WiiConnect24 ,
which enables it to receive messages and updates over the Internet
while in standby mode . It also features a game download service,
called "
Virtual Console ", which features emulated games from past
systems. Since its release, the
WiiWii has spawned many peripheral
devices, including the
WiiWii Balance Board and
Motion Plus , and has had
several hardware revisions . The _
WiiWii Family Edition_ variant is
identical to the original model, but is designed to sit horizontally
and removes the
GameCubeGameCube compatibility. The _
WiiWii Mini_ is a smaller,
redesigned
WiiWii which lacks
GameCubeGameCube compatibility, online
connectivity, the
SD card slot and
Wi-Fi support, and has only one USB
port unlike the previous models' two. As of 31 March 2017 , Nintendo
reports sales of 101.63 million
WiiWii hardware units and 914.28 million
WiiWii software units worldwide, making it Nintendo's best-selling home
video game console.

The WII U, the successor to the Wii, was released during the holiday
season of 2012 worldwide. The
WiiWii U is the first
NintendoNintendo console to
support high-definition graphics . The
WiiWii U's primary controller is
the
WiiWii U GamePad , which features an embedded touchscreen . Each
software title may be designed to utilize this touchscreen as being
supplemental to the main TV, or as the only screen for
Off-TV Play .
The system supports most
WiiWii controllers and accessories, and the more
classically shaped
WiiWii U Pro Controller . The system is backward
compatible with
WiiWii software and accessories; this mode also utilizes
Wii-based controllers, and it optionally offers the GamePad as its
primary
WiiWii display and motion sensor bar. The console has various
online services powered by
Nintendo Network , including: the Nintendo
eShop for online distribution of software and content; and
Miiverse ,
a social network which can be variously integrated with games and
applications. As of 31 March 2017, worldwide
WiiWii U sales had totaled
12.80 million hardware units and 84.04 million software units.

On 17 March 2015,
NintendoNintendo announced a new "dedicated games platform
with a brand new concept" with the codename "NX" that would be further
revealed in 2016.
Reggie Fils-Aimé , president of
NintendoNintendo of
America, referred to NX as "our next home console" in a June 2015
interview with _
The Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street Journal _. In a later article on 16
October 2015, _The Wall Street Journal_ relayed speculation from
unnamed inside sources that, although the NX hardware specifications
were unknown, it may be intended to feature "industry leading"
hardware specifications and include both a console and a mobile unit
that could either be used with the console or taken on the road for
separate use. It was also reported that
NintendoNintendo had begun
distributing software development kits (SDKs) for NX to third-party
developers, with the unnamed source further speculating that these
moves " the company is on track to introduce as early as ." At an
investor's meeting on 27 April 2016,
NintendoNintendo announced that the NX
would be released worldwide in March 2017. In an interview with Asahi
Shimbun in May 2016, Kimishima referred to the NX as "neither the
successor to the
WiiWii U nor to the 3DS", as well as it being a "new way
of playing games," but it would "slow
WiiWii U sales" upon reveal and
dissemination. In June 2016, Miyamoto stated that the reason Nintendo
had not released any information on the "NX" up until that point was
because they were afraid of imitators, saying he and
NintendoNintendo thought
other companies could copy "an idea that working on." The same day,
Kimishima revealed during a Q&A session with investors that they were
also researching virtual reality . On 19 October 2016, Nintendo
announced they would release a trailer for the console the following
day. The next day,
NintendoNintendo unveiled the trailer that revealed the
final name of the platform called
NintendoNintendo Switch. As of 31 March
2017, worldwide
Nintendo SwitchNintendo Switch sales had totaled 2.74 million
hardware units and 5.46 million software units.

After the success of the _Game "> The
Nintendo DS Lite is the
best-selling handheld console of all time

Although originally advertised as an alternative to the Game Boy
Advance, the NINTENDO DS replaced the
Game Boy line after its initial
release in 2004. It was distinctive for its dual screens and a
microphone, as well as a touch-sensitive lower screen . The _Nintendo
DS Lite _ brought a smaller form factor while the _
Nintendo DSi _
features larger screens and two cameras, and was followed by an even
larger model, the _
Nintendo DSi XL _, with a 90% bigger screen.

Further expanding the
Nintendo DS line, the NINTENDO 3DS uses the
process of autostereoscopy to produce a stereoscopic three-dimensional
effect without glasses . Released to major markets during 2011, the
3DS got off to a slow start, initially missing many key features that
were promised before the system launched. Partially as a result of
slow sales,
NintendoNintendo stock declined in value. Subsequent price cuts
and game releases helped to boost 3DS and 3DS software sales and to
renew investor confidence in the company. As of August 2013, the 3DS
was the best selling console in the
United StatesUnited States for four consecutive
months. The _
Nintendo 3DS XL _ was introduced in August 2012 and
includes a 90% larger screen, a 4 GB
SD card and extended battery
life. In August 2013,
NintendoNintendo announced the cost-reduced _Nintendo
2DS _, a version of the 3DS without the 3D display. It has a
slate-like design as opposed to the hinged, clamshell design of its
predecessors.

A hardware revision, _New
Nintendo 3DS _, was unveiled in August
2014. It is produced in a standard-sized model and a larger XL model;
both models feature upgraded processors and additional RAM, an
eye-tracking sensor to improve the stability of the autostereoscopic
3D image, colored face buttons, and near-field communication support
for native use of
Amiibo products. The standard-sized model also
features slightly larger screens, and support for faceplate
accessories.

Nintendo of AmericaNintendo of America has engaged in several high-profile marketing
campaigns to define and position its brand. One of its earliest and
most enduring slogans was "Now you're playing with power!", used first
to promote its
NintendoNintendo Entertainment System. It modified the slogan
to include "SUPER power" for the Super
NintendoNintendo Entertainment System,
and "PORTABLE power" for the Game Boy. Its 1994 "Play It Loud!"
campaign played upon teenage rebellion and fostered an edgy
reputation. During the
Nintendo 64 era, the slogan was "Get N or get
out." During the
GameCubeGameCube era, the "Who Are You?" suggested a link
between the games and the players' identities. The company promoted
its
Nintendo DS handheld with the tagline "Touching is Good." For the
Wii, they used the "
WiiWii would like to play" slogan to promote the
console with the people who tried the games including _Super Mario
Galaxy _ and _Super Paper
MarioMario _. The
NintendoNintendo DS's successor, the
NintendoNintendo 3DS, used the slogan "Take a look inside". The Wii's
successor, the
WiiWii U , used the slogan "How U will play next."

* Shinya Takahashi, Managing Executive Officer, General Manager of
NintendoNintendo Entertainment Planning ">_ Nintendo's former EAD division
developed games for Nintendo's most well known franchises, such as
Super
MarioMario _ and _
The Legend of Zelda _.

Nintendo's internal research and development operations are divided
into three main divisions:
NintendoNintendo Entertainment Planning Nintendo
Platform Technology Development (or PTD), which focuses on home and
handheld video game console hardware development; and Nintendo
Business Development (or NBD), which focuses on refining business
strategy and is responsible for overseeing the smart device arm of the
business.

Entertainment Planning & Development (EPD)

The
Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development division is the
primary software development division at Nintendo, formed as a merger
between their former Entertainment Analysis & Development and Software
Planning & Development divisions in 2015. Led by Shinya Takahashi, the
division holds the largest concentration of staff at the company,
housing more than 800 engineers and designers. The division is
primarily located in the central
KyotoKyoto R&D building, where they are
overseen by
Katsuya Eguchi , and also has a studio in
TokyoTokyo overseen
by
Yoshiaki KoizumiYoshiaki Koizumi .

Nintendo's European subsidiary was established in June 1990, based
in
Großostheim , close to
FrankfurtFrankfurt , Germany. The company handles
operations in
EuropeEurope and
South AfricaSouth Africa .
NintendoNintendo of Europe's United
Kingdom branch handles operations in that country and in
IrelandIreland from
its headquarters in Windsor ,
BerkshireBerkshire . In June 2014, NOE initiated
a reduction and consolidation process, yielding a combined 130
layoffs: the closing of its office and warehouse, and termination of
all employment, in Großostheim; and the consolidation of all of those
operations into, and terminating some employment at, its Frankfurt
location.

A Chinese joint venture between its founder,
Wei Yen , and Nintendo,
manufactures and distributes official
NintendoNintendo consoles and games for
the mainland Chinese market, under the iQue brand. The product lineup
for the Chinese market is considerably different from that for other
markets. For example, Nintendo's only console in China is the iQue
Player , a modified version of the
NintendoNintendo 64. The company has not
released its more modern
GameCubeGameCube or
WiiWii to the market, although a
version of the
Nintendo 3DS XL was released in 2012. As of 2013, it is
a 100% Nintendo-owned subsidiary.

Nintendo's South Korean subsidiary was established on 7 July 2006.
In March 2016, the subsidiary was heavily downsized due to a corporate
restructuring decision after analyzing shifts in the current market,
laying off 80% of its employees, leaving only ten people at its helm,
including CEO Hiroyuki Fukuda. However, this did not affect any game
titles being scheduled for release in South Korea at the time, and
NintendoNintendo continued operations there as usual.

Most external first-party software development is done in
JapanJapan ,
since the only overseas subsidiary is
Retro Studios in the United
States. Although these studios are all subsidiaries of Nintendo, they
are often referred to as external resources when being involved in
joint development processes with Nintendo's internal developers by the
NintendoNintendo Entertainment Planning
width:107px;line-height:1.3em;padding:2px 6px 1px
6px;margin:0px;border:none;border-width:0px">1889–1950

1950–1960

1960–1965

1965–1970

1967–1975

1968–1975

1970–1975

1972

1975–2006

2006–2016

2016–present

POLICY

CONTENT GUIDELINES

For many years,
NintendoNintendo had a policy of strict content guidelines
for video games published on its consoles. Although
NintendoNintendo allowed
graphic violence in its video games released in Japan, nudity and
sexuality were strictly prohibited. Former
NintendoNintendo president Hiroshi
Yamauchi believed that if the company allowed the licensing of
pornographic games, the company's image would be forever tarnished.
Nintendo of AmericaNintendo of America went further in that games released for Nintendo
consoles could not feature nudity, sexuality, profanity (including
racism , sexism or slurs ), blood, graphic or domestic violence ,
drugs , political messages or religious symbols (with the exception of
widely unpracticed religions, such as the Greek Pantheon ). The
Japanese parent company was concerned that it may be viewed as a
"Japanese Invasion" by forcing Japanese community standards on North
American and European children. Despite the strict guidelines, some
exceptions have occurred: _Bionic Commando _ (though swastikas were
eliminated in the US version), _
Smash TV _ and _Golgo 13: Top Secret
Episode _ contained human violence, the latter also containing implied
sexuality and tobacco use ; _
River City Ransom _ and _Taboo: The Sixth
Sense _ contained nudity, and the latter also contained religious
images, as did _
Castlevania II _ and _III _.

A known side effect of this policy was the Genesis version of _Mortal
Kombat _ selling over double the number of the Super
NESNES version,
mainly because
NintendoNintendo had forced publisher Acclaim to recolor the
red blood to look like white sweat and replace some of the more gory
graphics in its release of the game, making it less violent. By
contrast,
SegaSega allowed blood and gore to remain in the Genesis version
(though a code was required to unlock the gore).
NintendoNintendo allowed the
Super
NESNES version of _
Mortal Kombat II _ to ship uncensored the
following year with a content warning on the packaging.

In 1994 and 2003, when the ESRB and PEGI (respectively) video game
ratings systems were introduced,
NintendoNintendo chose to abolish most of
these policies in favor of consumers making their own choices about
the content of the games they played. Today, changes to the content of
games are done primarily by the game's developer or, occasionally, at
the request of Nintendo. The only clear-set rule is that ESRB AO-rated
games will not be licensed on
NintendoNintendo consoles in North America, a
practice which is also enforced by
SonySony and
MicrosoftMicrosoft , its two
greatest competitors in the present market.
NintendoNintendo has since allowed
several mature-content games to be published on its consoles,
including: _
Perfect Dark _, _Conker\'s Bad Fur Day _, _Doom _ and
_
Doom 64 _, _
BMX XXX _, the _
Resident Evil _ series, _
Killer7Killer7 _, the
_
Mortal Kombat _ series, _Eternal Darkness: Sanity\'s Requiem _,
_
BloodRayne _, _Geist _, _Dementium: The Ward _, _
Bayonetta 2Bayonetta 2 _,
_Devil\'s Third _ and _Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water _. Certain
games have continued to be modified, however. For example,
Konami was
forced to remove all references to cigarettes in the 2000 Game Boy
Color game _
Metal Gear Solid _ (although the previous
NESNES version of
_
Metal Gear _ and the subsequent
GameCubeGameCube game _
Metal Gear Solid: The
Twin Snakes _ both included such references, as did
WiiWii title
_
MadWorld _), and maiming and blood were removed from the
NintendoNintendo 64
port of _Cruis\'n USA _. Another example is in the
Game Boy Advance
game _
Mega Man Zero 3 _, in which one of the bosses, called Hellbat
Schilt in the Japanese and European releases, was renamed Devilbat
Schilt in the North American localization . In North America releases
of the _
Mega Man Zero _ games, enemies and bosses killed with a saber
attack would not gush blood as they did in the Japanese versions.
However, the release of the
WiiWii has been accompanied by a number of
even more controversial mature titles, such as _
Manhunt 2 _, _No More
Heroes _, _The House of the Dead: Overkill _ and _
MadWorld _, the
latter three of which are published exclusively for the console. The
Nintendo DS also has violent games, such as _Grand Theft Auto:
Chinatown Wars _, _Dementium: The Ward _ and its sequel , _Ultimate
Mortal Kombat _, and _Resident Evil: Deadly Silence _.

* Licensees were not permitted to release the same game for a
competing console until two years had passed.
*
NintendoNintendo would decide how many cartridges would be supplied to the
licensee.
*
NintendoNintendo would decide how much space would be dedicated for
articles, advertising, etc. in the _
Nintendo PowerNintendo Power _ magazine.
* There was a minimum number of cartridges that had to be ordered by
the licensee from Nintendo.
* There was a yearly limit of five games that a licensee may produce
for a
NintendoNintendo console. This rule was created to prevent market
over-saturation, which had contributed to the North American video
game crash of 1983 .

The last rule was circumvented in a number of ways; for example,
Konami, wanting to produce more games for Nintendo's consoles, formed
Ultra Games and later Palcom to produce more games as a technically
different publisher. This disadvantaged smaller or emerging
companies, as they could not afford to start additional companies. In
another side effect, Square Co (now
Square EnixSquare Enix ) executives have
suggested that the price of publishing games on the
Nintendo 64 along
with the degree of censorship and control that
NintendoNintendo enforced over
its games, most notably _
Final Fantasy VI _, were factors in switching
its focus towards
SonySony 's
PlayStationPlayStation console.

In 1993, a class action suit was taken against
NintendoNintendo under
allegations that their lockout chip enabled unfair business practices
. The case was settled, with the condition that
CaliforniaCalifornia consumers
were entitled to a $3 discount coupon for a game of Nintendo's choice.

EMULATION

_
THIS SECTION NEEDS EXPANSION. You can help by adding to it .
(October 2014)_

NintendoNintendo is opposed to any third-party emulation of its video games
and consoles, stating that it is the single largest threat to the
intellectual property rights of video game developers. However,
emulators have been used by
NintendoNintendo and licensed third party
companies as a means to re-release older games (through the Virtual
Console ).

The gold sunburst seal was first used by
Nintendo of AmericaNintendo of America , and
later
NintendoNintendo of Europe. It is displayed on any game, system, or
accessory licensed for use on one of its video game consoles ,
denoting the game has been properly approved by Nintendo. The seal is
also displayed on any Nintendo-licensed merchandise, such as trading
cards, game guides, or apparel, albeit with the words "Official
NintendoNintendo Licensed Product".

In 2008, game designer
Sid Meier cited the Seal of Quality as one of
the three most important innovations in video game history, as it
helped set a standard for game quality that protected consumers from
shovelware .

In
NTSCNTSC regions, this seal is an elliptical starburst titled
"Official
NintendoNintendo Seal." Originally, for
NTSCNTSC countries, the seal was
a large, black and gold circular starburst. The seal read as follows:
"This seal is your assurance that NINTENDO has approved and guaranteed
the quality of this product." This seal was later altered in 1988:
"approved and guaranteed" was changed to "evaluated and approved." In
1989, the seal became gold and white, as it currently appears, with a
shortened phrase, "Official
NintendoNintendo Seal of Quality." It was changed
in 2003 to read "Official
NintendoNintendo Seal."

The seal currently reads:

The official seal is your assurance that this product is licensed or
manufactured by Nintendo. Always look for this seal when buying video
game systems, accessories, games and related products.

In
PALPAL regions, the seal is a circular starburst titled, "Original
NintendoNintendo Seal of Quality." Text near the seal in the Australian Wii
manual states:

This seal is your assurance that
NintendoNintendo has reviewed this product
and that it has met our standards for excellence in workmanship,
reliability and entertainment value. Always look for this seal when
buying games and accessories to ensure complete compatibility with
your
NintendoNintendo product.

CHARITABLE PROJECTS

Since 1992
NintendoNintendo has teamed with the Starlight Children\'s
Foundation to build Starlight Fun Center mobile entertainment units
and install them in hospitals. 1,000 Starlight
NintendoNintendo Fun Center
units were installed by the end of 1995. These units combine several
forms of multimedia entertainment, including gaming, and serve as a
distraction to brighten moods and boost kids' morale during hospital
stays.

ENVIRONMENTAL RECORD

NintendoNintendo has consistently been ranked last in
Greenpeace 's "Guide to
Greener Electronics" due to Nintendo's failure to publish information.
Similarly, they are ranked last in the
Enough Project 's "Conflict
Minerals Company Rankings" due to Nintendo's refusal to respond to
multiple requests for information.

Like many other electronics companies,
NintendoNintendo does offer a
take-back recycling program which allows customers to mail in old
products they no longer use;
Nintendo of AmericaNintendo of America claimed that it took
in 548 tons of returned products in 2011, 98% of which was either
reused or recycled.

TRADEMARK

During the peak of Nintendo's success in the video game industry in
the 1990s, their name was ubiquitously used to refer to any video game
console, regardless of the manufacturer. To prevent their trademark
from becoming generic ,
NintendoNintendo pushed usage of the term "game
console", and succeeded in preserving their trademark.